Virat Kohli will play in the India vs. England 2nd ODI in Cuttack. India cricket team’s batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, confirmed that the former skipper’s knee is no longer an issue, and he’ll be back in the XI. The swelling on the right knee, which was an issue in Nagpur, isn’t of any concern now.
Virat Kohli fit to play in Cuttack
“Virat Kohli is fit to play. He has come for practice and is good to go,” Kotak told reporters on the eve of the match. This is good news for Team India, especially keeping the ICC Champions Trophy in mind. The starting XI for the tournament must at least play with each other once, and that will help the management figure things out.
This also confirmed what Shubman Gill had said yesterday. “It’s nothing serious. He (Kohli) was fine during yesterday’s (Wednesday) practice, but he woke up with some swelling in his knee this morning (Thursday). He’ll definitely be back for the second ODI,” Gill had told Disney+ Hotstar.
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Of course, if Kohli comes in, someone has to go out. Given how everyone in the top-order performed, one of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Shreyas Iyer will have to warm the bench. The former was picked over the latter in the first match and had Kohli not been injured, Shreyas wouldn’t have played.
Of course, now that the number batter has performed, he’s more likely to play. Also, Gill is the designated opener and can return to his spot in the second game. Shreyas is versatile and can bat anywhere from three to seven. This means, no one would have to bat out of order.
India’s Predicted XI for 2nd England ODI
Rohit Sharma (c), Ꮪhubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Bench: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
